School-desk.



Patented Mar,- l3, I900. US.

M. M. HULIMAN &. E. B. FIEL S 0 H 0 0 L D E S K (Application filed Apr. 20, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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MOSES M. IIOLIMAN AND ELIJAII B. FIELDS, OF BEDFORD, INDIANA.

SCHOOL-DESK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters, Patent No. 645,098, dated March 13, 1900.

Application filed April 20, 1898. erial No- 678,257. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MOSES M. HOLIMAN and ELIJAH B. FIELDS, citizens of the United States, residing at Bedford, in the county of Lawrence and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful School-Desk, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to folding school desks, and has for one object to provide a simple, compact, and efficient construction and arrangement of parts adapted particularly for use under conditions making it desirable to fold the desk andsea-t into the most compact form for transportation or storage or when not in use and also to provide for detaching the frame of the desk from the pedestal or stand to facilitate sweeping and other cleansing operations.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk and seat constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the seat-supports with the seat in its folded position with relation thereto, a portion of the seat being broken away. Fig. 3 is a Vertical central section of the construction embodying our invention, showing the seat in its operative position and the desk-top in its folded position, the normal or operative position of the desk-top being indicated in dotted lines.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlugs.

The base or pedestal of the apparatus embodyingour invention consists of a tubular portion 1, forming a socket, provided at its lower end with a securing-plate 2, adapted to be secured by screws or similar fastening devices to the floor, and removably mounted in said socket is a spindle 3 on the lower end of the desk-frame 4;. This desk-frame is of open rectangular construction, with its side and upper bars of hollow or channel iron,designed to afford the necessary strength without unnecessarily increasing the weight of the structure. The seat-back 5 is secured to the front side of this frame, and the desk-top 6 is adaptthe proper inclination.

' ed to fit within the spaceinclosed by the frame when the desk is not in use or is folded. In order that the desk-top maybe held in either its operative or folded position, we employ a swinging stirrup 7, having its trunnions mounted in suitable bearings on the rear side of the frame 4 and extended to form terminal stops 8,wl1ich, comingin contact with the rear surface of the frame, limit the downward swinging movement of the stirrup. Thedesktop is pivoted for swinging movement upon slides 9, which are channeled to straddle the inner edges of the side bars of the frame 4 and move vertically thereon. Also near the under or inner edge of the top bar of the deskframe is a catch 10, provided with a shoulder 10 and a suitable beveled or cam face leading to said shoulder, whereby as the desk-top is drawn to-its approximately horizontal or operative position its front edge rides upon the beveled or cam face and represses the latch in opposition to its actuating-spring 11 until said edge of the desk-top is engaged by the shoulder of the latch and is thereby held with its upper surface in contact with. the under or inner edge of the top frame-bar. The body portion of the desk-top rests upon and is supported by the stirrup and is thereby held at In the construction illustrated the upper end of the latch is perforated to receive a guide-pin 12, upon which is coiled the latch-actuating spring 11, said spring having a bearing against the latch above the fulcrum point 13 of the latter. Hence when itis desired to release the desk-top in order that it maybe folded the upper end of the latch should be pressed manually in opposition to its actuating-spring and the rear edge of the desk-top elevated to allow the slides 9 to .move downwardly upon the side bars of the frame until the parts occupy the position indicated in full lines in Fig. In practice the desk-top is preferably provided upon its under side with a book receptacle or rack 14.

Extending forwardly from the desk-frame are desk-seat-supporting arms 15, each arm being of yielding construction, with the 1011- gitudinal slots 16 thereof terminating in enlargements, forming front and rear seats 17 and 18. The front seats are inclined at their front sides, whereby when the shoes 19 of the seat 20 are engaged therewith the seat occupies a'rearwardly and upwardly inclined position, with its front edge bearing against the surface of the back 5. When it is desired to use the seat, it should be swung forward at its free edge and the shoes 19 should be slid rearwardly in the slots of the supportingarms until they reach the upright or perpendicular seats 18, whereupon the deskseat may be swung forwardly to a horizontal position, in which its under surface will rest upon the upwardly-projected bearing-points 21 at the front ends of the supporting-arms, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that in practice the slotted supporting-arms may be constructed of heavy bar or band metal looped toprovide the construction described, .including terminal front and rear seats arranged in different relative positions and connected by 1ongitudinal slots or ways, through which the shoes of the seat may pass in movement from one position to the other.

The spindle by which the connection between the desk-frame and the base or pedestal is accomplished provides for returning the desk-frame to occupy a position parallel with an aisle in order to open the interval between rows of desks or otherwise increase unobstructed floor space to facilitate the movements of pupils, and when sweeping or cleaning is to be accomplished the desk-frame may be entirely removed from the base or pedestal by dismounting said spindle from the socket.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim is 1. In a school-desk, the combination with a supporting-frame, of a rearwardly-extendin g swinging stirrup having a horizontal crossbar spaced from the plane of the frame, means for limiting the downward swinging movement of said stirrup, and a desk-top having its front edge mounted for limited upward and downward sliding movement upon the frame, and adapted, when approximately parallel with the frame, to fit between the plane thereof and said cross-bar of the stirrup, and also adapted, when its front edge is at the limit of its upward movement, to rest at an intermediate point upon said cross-bar of the stirrup, substantially as specified.

2. In a school-desk, the combination of a' supporting frame having parallel guides, slides mounted for limited upward and down ward movement upon said guides, a swingstirrup, the interval between said cross-bar and the plane of the frame being sufficient to receive the desk-top when the slides are depressed, substantially as specified.

3. In a school-desk, the combination of a centrallyopen desk-frame having parallel side bars forming guides, opposite channeled slides mounted upon said guides for limited vertical movement, a swinging stirrup extending rearwardly from the side bars of the frame, and having a cross-bar spaced from the plane thereof, means for limiting the downward swinging movement of the stirrup and a desk-top pivotally mounted upon said slides, and adapted to bear at an intermediate point upon said cross-bar of the stirrup when the slides are at the limit of their upward movement, the interval between said cross-bar and the plane of the frame being sufficient to receive the desk-top when the slides are depressed, substantially as specified.

4. In a school-desk, the combination with a supporting-frame, of seat-supporting arms slotted horizontally and provided with front and rear offset seats communicating with the slots, and a seat provided with shoes fitted to slide in the slots of the supporting-arms for engagement with either of the terminal seats, substantially as specified.

5. In a school-desk, the combination with a supporting-frame, of seat-supporting arms extending in approximately-horizontal positions from said supporting-frame, provided Y with front and rear ofiset seats connected by longitudinal slots, the front seats being inclined to the plane of the supporting-arms,and a seat provided at a point contiguous to its rear edge with shoes for engagement with said seats, and adapted to slide in said slots in passing from one set of seats to the other, the supporting-arms being provided at their front ends with upwardly-extending bearing-points 21 to form front rests for the seat when in its operative position, substantially as specified. In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own We have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

MOSES M. HOLIMAN. ELIJAI-I B. FIELDS. Witnesses:

CYRUS BLACKBURN, J. R. REYNOLDS.

IIO 

